RECORD (OF. record, retort, from ML. recor dum, witness, record, judgment, from Lat. recor dari, rceordare, to remember, call to mind, from rc-, back again, anew cor, heart), JUDICIAL. A written history or account of the entire pro ceedings in a case. The importance of keeping such records was not recognized until long after regular tribunals of justice had been established. It seems to he undisputed that William the Con queror introduced the practice into England. At the early common law it was the custom for the proper court offichll to enter upon pieces of parchment the pleadings and a brief account of all the steps and proceedings taken in the action, including the judgment. These various pieces were attached together in regular order, and wound into a spiral roll for convenient safe keeping. This was known as the 'judgment roll,' and this term is still applied to the various pleadings and papers including the judgment when filed together as a part of the record. Afterwards the records were kept by writing them in books instead of on parchment, and in a few jurisdictions to-day every item of a judi cial record is entered in books which become the public records of the court. However, in many jurisdictions the record of a case is composed partly of entries in the clerk's books. and partly
of the original pleadings and judgment filed in the proper office.
A complete judicial record of an action should contain, in some form, the date of issue, the pleadings, the various necessary steps taken before trial, a minute of the fact of the trial, the appearances for the parties, the name of the judge before whom the cause was tried, the verdict of the jury or disposition by the court, and the final judgment. Under most practice acts. the successful party. in order to enforce his rights under the determination of his ease by the court, must attend to the entry of judgment by presenting to the clerk of the court an instru ment containing a statement of the determination of the action and an order for the proper relief, which is then signed by a judge or a clerk for the court, and entered. If he is careless the record may remain incomplete, and no process can he issued to carry out the direction of the court. The record of a court is conclusive evidence of the facts which it sets forth as between the parties thereto, and cannot he attacked col laterally. See PLEADING; PROCEDURE; RES JEDICATA, and consult the authorities referred to under PLEADING; PRACTICE.